The news media made the trek to Hanford yesterday to take the opportunity we offered to meet researcher Thomas Harter, who is initiating an extensive groundwater study at dairies in Kings and Tulare counties. Harter studied the groundwater at dairies in Stanislaus and Merced counties in the late 90s and found groundwater with six-times and more than the limit set for nitrates in drinking water. The South Valley's groundwater is much deeper and the soil contains more clay, which Harter says may reduce groundwater contamination, though he doesn't expect to find groundwater there to be pristine.
The KMPH 10 o'clock news covered the event with a story during the first 15 minutes of the broadcast. The story can be found on its Web site. The Fresno Bee sent reporter Eric Lacayo of the South Valley bureau, who likened the dairies' participation in the study to motorists inviting the Highway Patrol into their vehicles.
"We're kind of putting the speedometer on them and the Highway Patrol is waiting," Lacayo quoted Harter. "We're going to see whether you're speeding or not."
There might have been more coverage of the dairy event had it not conflicted (coincidentally) with another ag groundwater story that played out closer to most TV stations' offices and came complete with demonstrators carrying placards with slogans such as "Where food grows, contaminants flow" and "No More Favors, End Ag Waivers." The Fresno Bee also covered this story.
